I'm a newbie here to the dark side, but a long time collector of US Coins. Ever since I stumbled upon CT, I've been intrigued with World Coins, in particular Gold (I fear, Doug is adding another to his army). Since the World is such a big place, I decided to focus on one country at a time. France is my first, mainly because I crossed paths with Marianne's portrait on the 20 Franc Rooster. One word...beautiful. To make a long story short, I’ve been doing my homework and trying to research the history of France and in particular the history of French gold coins. I’ve produced a nice chronological summary of Gold coins going back to the Renaissance, (which also includes a brief history of the monarchs / emperors ruling during the time of mintage) However, prior to the Renaissance I’m having a hard time finding coin related information. Is anyone aware and can direct me to a web-site or reference book, (translated in English) which provides a chronological history of French Gold Coins prior to the Renaissance? Much appreciated
Here's a good place to start.Right in our own backyard too! http://www.cointalk.org/showthread.php?t=13900 The Fitzwilliam Museum link is the best for viewing medieval french coins,including a lot of gold!
jimmy - If you can't find enough info in the Resources section, drop me a line and I'll send more links. Some of them only deal with particular periods or rulers so I haven't posted links to all of them yet. I can also recommend several books, some in French, some in Dutch and even in one or two in English But there's lots to learn and absorb, so take your time. Too much at once and you'll be overwhelmed.
Thanks for the help. I know I have lot to learn and often feel overwhelmed. Theres a lot of history! I really get lost during the Fuedal period. Although sometimes I can trace coins during this period, gold seems to be far more scarce here as well as most pre-modern periods. Wish me luck. BTW, Heritage Coin has helped me see some of the French gold I have been trying to find. Thanks again.
Don't feel alone pal - I don't even mess with the feudal period. At least not yet anyway. I leave that to that crazy Scotsman that hangs around here now n then I have my hands full trying to figure out the medieval and later periods :rolling:
For the record, it's not actually me that's crazy. It's not my fault that the rest of the world is out of sync. :kewl: If there's anything I can help with concerning `les monnaies feodal de France' I would be more than delighted to (try to) be of assistance, but it's a BIG subject area.........and other than royal issues, there's little gold to be seen.
